Log, Mar 26, 2004
18 people plus 8 turned away as the weather got bad. In spite of the rather nasty weather gathering to the west, we had quite a few people here this evening. The alignment of the bright planets got quite a play in the local press and this drew several families plus we had a Cub Scout Pack from Barrington.We started with Jupiter, and then went on to the Great Nebula in Orion M42. We also looked at the crescent Moon. By the time we got to the Moon the clouds were washing over everything. They weren't heavy clouds but they made seeing a very iffy sort of a thing. M42 basically lost all detail until only the Trapezium and the brightest clouds were visible.Two families came later (about 8:30) when I had already begun to shut down. There were breaks in the clouds but there were also the first drops of rain. I closed the shutter and shut the dome up as Art and Dotty Guarino closed up the Nature Center. As I drove home the rain began to come down more heavily.-Les Coleman
